New Energy-Water Nexus Bill in the U.S. Senate Highlights Need for
Source-to-Site Energy Analysis

New Bill Acknowledges the Relationship between Energy and Water, and
Reflects a Growing Shift Toward Analyzing Water as Energy

May 06, 2014 11:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A new Senate bill, the Nexus of Energy and Water for Sustainability
(NEWS) Act of 2014 (S. 1971) will create a committee within the National
Science and Technology Committee (NSTC) to streamline federal activities
related to the management of interconnected energy and water systems. As
part of this initiative, last year, individuals from BP, GE, Sandia
National Lab, American Water, other organizations, and Energy Points
were invited to provide their expertise on the issue at a roundtable
discussion.

“It’s great to see this initiative moving forward,” says Dr. Ory Zik,
Energy Points CEO, “The truth is that given enough energy, it is
possible to provide water to any place in the world—that’s why water is
really an energy issue. By measuring source energy (the energy invested
in resources such as water and electricity) you’re able to directly
compare resources in terms of energy and environmental impact.
Organizations facing drought and the risks it poses to their operations
shouldn’t just consider direct water conservation as a means of
mitigating these risks. It may be that electricity conservation would be
as impactful as water conservation, if not more, because of the vast
amounts of water it takes to produce that electricity. Only
source-to-site energy analysis can bring that to light.”

“When you look at electricity, fuel, and water use as forms of source
energy consumption, you’re able to make direct comparisons between them
to determine the true culprit of energy inefficiency and environmental
harm,” says Dr. Seth Sheldon, Senior Scientist at Energy Points, “This
bill is a critical step towards effectively managing national resource
use.” Dr. Zik and Dr. Sheldon have recently published an article
outlining why
water is an energy issue and how we can address it.

The bill reflects a growing recognition that source energy analysis lies
at the heart of resource management. In fact, Massachusetts State
Senator Jamie Eldridge recently sponsored bill S. 1479 requiring that
new public buildings and renovations undergo lifecycle energy analysis
of all resources, which can also be done using source energy. These
types of legislation are paving the way for organizations to better
understand and manage the impact of their energy and resource
consumption.